1st Edition

The Sacred Identity of Ephesos (Routledge Revivals) Foundation Myths of a Roman City

By Guy Maclean Rogers Copyright 1991
    230 Pages
    by Routledge

    230 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Sacred Identity of Ephesos offers a full-length interpretation of one of the largest known bequests in the Classical world, made to the city of Ephesos in AD 104 by a wealthy Roman equestrian, and challenges some of the basic assumptions made about the significance of the Greek cultural renaissance known as the ‘Second Sophistic’.

    Professor Rogers shows how the civic rituals created by the foundation symbolised a contemporary social hierarchy, and how the ruling class used foundation myths - the birth of the goddess Artemis in a grove above the city – as a tangible source of power, to be wielded over new citizens and new gods. Utilising an innovative methodology for analysing large inscriptions, Professor Rogers argues that the Ephesians used their past to define their present during the Roman Empire, shedding new light on how second-century Greeks maintained their identities in relation to Romans, Christians, and Jews.

    List of figures; Preface; Abbreviations of frequently cited articles and books; 1. The Display of Writing 2. The Lotteries and Distirbutions 3. The Procession of Statues 4. The City Plan of Ephesos 5. The Sacred Identity of Ephesos; Appendix I: The Greek text and the English translation; Appendix II: Analogous Foundations; Appendix III: The Foundation of Demosthenes of Oinoanda; Select modern bibliography; Index

    Biography

    Guy Maclean Rogers,